The present invention generally relates to a system for preparing a wire harness production and, more particularly, to a system for preparing a production of a vehicle wire harness.
In preparation for production of a wire harness to be wired in a vehicle, inefficient interchanges of various information and repetitions of such interchanges occur between a design department and a production department, or between a carmaker and a parts maker. This causes a problem that such production preparation needs a very long preparation period. This problem is described below with reference to FIG. 10.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an operation to be performed in a production preparation time in which preparation for production of a related vehicle wire harness is performed. At a design department shown in FIG. 10, during this time, for example, design, fabrication, and evaluation of a wire harness are performed for the production preparation. On the other hand, at a production department, for instance, manufacturing drawing, assembly-jig drawing and process study are performed. Incidentally, the design department and the production department may be present in the same company. However, alternatively, the design department and the production department may be provided so that the design department is provided in a carmaker, while the production department is provided in a parts maker commissioned by the carmaker to produce wire harnesses.
In this production preparation time, as described in step S1a shown in FIG. 10, first, the design department makes design department diagrams referred to as, for example, a wire-harness skeleton diagram, an intraconnector terminal wiring diagram, and a circuit information diagram according to circuit diagrams consisting of system wiring diagrams, which describe relevant electric circuits, path diagrams, which describe wiring paths of a wire harness, and specifications and associated data. Then, such design department diagrams are provided from the design department to the production department.
In the production department receiving this design department diagrams, the preparation, checking and review of various drawings, and the study of a wire harness process are performed in a production preparation process P1. At a stage of preparing various drawings, wire harness production drawings, subdrawings, and jig drawings are prepared according to the design department drawings received from the design department. Incidentally, a processing drawing and wire specifications are cited as the wire harness production drawings. A sub numbered sub-assembly drawing is cited as the subdrawing. A jig layout drawing, a jig production drawing and a component list are cited as the jig drawings. Further, product cost accounts are cited as other drawings.
Moreover, at a checking stage of the production preparation process P1, the preparation of a working drawing for an inspection table, operating instructions, and an important point drawing is performed by referring to the design department drawings. Furthermore, at a study stage, product study, workability verification, and evaluation, and production system study are performed. At the product study, study of dimensional setting of wire correction of protectors, study of the size and dimensions of a protective layer, and study of style of packing are performed. At the workability study, evaluation of wiring procedure and time, evaluation of working procedure and time, and evaluation of layout of the inspection table are performed. Further, at the production system study, pressure-welding and production facility study and manufacturing system study are performed. Furthermore, at the wire harness process study, wire harness process layout and contact study are performed. Particularly, line design, which concerns personnel assignment and work distribution, and facility evaluation, which concerns the number of facilities and also concerns production patterns, are performed.
Incidentally, irregular change requests issued from the design department are taken into consideration in the study and evaluation. Further, upon completion of such various studies and evaluations, the production department feeds back results thereof to the design department as demands.
In parallel with the production preparation process P1 of the production department, in step S1b, the design department performs wire harness design, which includes study of wiring of a wire harness circuit and a path, and assembly and evaluation of an actual car. Then, each time when change processing to be performed occurs, the change request is issued to the production department. Further, the design department prepares design department drawings again in step S2a by referring to the demands fed back from the design department. Subsequently, the design department provides the prepared design department drawings to the production department.
Then, when receiving the design department drawings, the production department performs a production preparation process P2 similar to the production preparation process P1 again. Similarly, the design department performs the wire harness design and the assembly and evaluation of an actual car again in step S2b, and issues a change request to the production department again, if necessary. Such processes to be respectively performed at the design department and the production department, and interactions therebetween are repeatedly performed until a production preparation process P3 based on the design department drawing prepared by the design department in step S3a and on the change request issued according to the wire harness design and to the assembly and evaluation of an actual car is finished so that the production department feeds back no demands to the design department.
When such processes, which relate to the preparation for production of a wire harness and are performed in the design department and the production department, and the interactions between both the departments are finished, the production department arranges provisions, such as necessary members and jigs, in step P4. Then, in step P5, the appointed production department performs practical production of a wire harness according to a predetermined manufacturing process. Furthermore, upon completion of production of a wire harness of a predetermined part of a predetermined type of vehicle, the production department makes shipment of the wire harness in step P6.
As described above, in the preparation of production of a wire harness, there are various processes, which are performed in the design department and the production department, and interactions to be performed therebetween. Further, it is frequent that similar processes and interactions are repeatedly performed. Thus, the production preparation is time-consuming and needs a large number of man-hours. Further, preparations of production of a wire harness, which respectively correspond to the types of vehicle, are performed separately from one another. Consequently, such production preparation does not effectively utilize a great number of similar databases. More particularly, the design department of such a related system has drawbacks in that it takes time to prepare the design department drawings, that a wire harness shown in a scheme drawing does not correspond with an actual one at the assembly and evaluation, and that a diameter of a wire harness, which is based on a path plan, often differs from that of an actual wire harness. Moreover, the production department of the related system has many drawbacks in that the production department cannot start a preparation process without the design department drawing, and that there are many hindrances to reduction in a preparation time, for example, many manual operations are caused and many iterative tasks are generated correspondingly to various kinds of inspections, studies and change requests.